Repeat abortions rise in England and Wales, figures reveal

File photo dated 23/01/16 of a mother holding the feet of a new baby, as couples seeking fertility treatment are being sold "add ons" by clinics despite little evidence some of them work, a watchdog has warned.

The number of repeat abortions in England and Wales in 2015 went up to 70,294 in total

More than three in ten abortions carried out on women in England and Wales in England and Wales in 2015 were repeat procedures, according to the latest annual figures from the Department of Health.

The statistics show that the number of repeat abortions in 2015 rose to 70,294 amounting to more than a third of the total number of abortions for that year with 50 women among them having had a total of eight abortions.

Total abortions for 2015 hit a five-year high with the number increasing to 191,014, marking a 0.7% increase on the year before.

The number of abortions for disability – which are legal up to birth – increased from 3,099 to 3,213, including abortions for babies with Down’s syndrome, from 662 to 689.

The report also revealed that abortion is increasingly common for women aged 30 and over. It said: “Since 2005 the rates for women aged 30 to 34 have gone up from 14.5 per 1,000 women in 2005 to 17.1 in 2015, and rates for women aged 35 or over have gone up from 6.8 per 1,000 women in 2005 to 7.8 in 2015.”

Peter D Williams, executive officer of Right To Life, said it was time society recognised the dignity and rights of unborn children. He said: “Today’s abortion stats highlight the dark reality of abortion in the UK, and the necessity of humanising of attitudes towards the unborn child and ridding society of the unjust discrimination that abortion enables.

“We know from women’s groups such as Jeena International that women from ethnic minority communities report to them the misogynistic practice of sex-selective abortion. We also know very explicitly from the ongoing debate about pre-natal screening that 90 per cent of babies of children with Down’s syndrome are screened out through abortion. We need laws that better protect and support such children, and their families.

“All this should raise in our minds what the consequences would be of following the advice of the abortion industry, such as Cathy Warwick the BPAS Chair of Trustees and also RCM Chief Executive, by removing abortion from the law altogether.

“We could see Vietnam-level high abortion rates and the hidden sex-selective abortions we see in jurisdictions like Canada. Contrary to the abortion lobby’s extreme agenda, and with the consistent witness of public opinion, we need to move towards greater not lesser recognition and protection of the dignity and rights of unborn children.”